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Illinois Institute of Technology

The University Archives and Special Collections collects and preserves the historical records of IIT, a technological university located on the Near South side of Chicago (33rd and State Streets), as well as those of its predecessor institutions.

Its collection strengths include the records of Armour Mission and Armour Institute of Technology (1890-1940, located on South State Street); Lewis Institute (1896-1940, located at Madison and Damon on the Near West side); and Institute of Design begun by László Moholy-Nagy in Chicago in 1937. While not as extensive, the IIT Archives also contains collections related to Bronzeville, the historically significant African American neighborhood within which the campus stands, including the South Side Redevelopment Collection, Central South Area Plan Materials, and South Central Association materials. Likewise, the archives holds some unique manuscripts and secondary collections related to architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his activities at IIT from 1938-1958, along with other materials related to IIT’s Modernist campus architecture. In addition, IIT’s Galvin Library holds born-digital oral histories from the Institute of Design’s Photography program alumni, as well as a small collection of rare volumes on the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.